Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Biographical musings

My current project is about King Arthur's Table. I described this in a previous post. As I've explained before, it stems from my PhD research into a 14th-century manuscript, The Equatorie of the Planetis.

Yesterday I was in London, looking in the archives of the Royal Institution for
information about how and why King Arthur's Table was built according
to the instructions in the manuscript. I didn't find any direct
evidence, but I discovered plenty about its creator, Derek Price, and his relationship with Lawrence Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory where KAT was made.

I
was struck by how many of my research projects have included a strong
biographical element. Maybe it's just the way my research interests
push me, or perhaps there's always a biographical aspect to every
history. Either way, I do think personal stories add some human
interest.

Price's story is an intriguing one. I haven't got to
the bottom of it, but it seems that for him, coming to Cambridge was a
new beginning. His background was far from prosperous: his father was a
tailor and his mother a singer, and he studied for his first degree and
doctorate at South West Essex Technical College (part of the University
of London). After taking his doctorate in physics he moved to teach
applied mathemetics at the then University of Malaya in Singapore. This
was in 1947, the same year he got married. But in 1950 something
changed. He decided to change subjects from mathematics and physics to
the history of science, and began to make enquiries about studying or
working at Cambridge. This was to lead to his second PhD, for which he
researched the Equatorie manuscript he had discovered in the library at Peterhouse.

The
archives show that several people in Cambridge were curious, even
suspicious, about his reasons for leaving Malaya. There are hints that
he did not fit easily into life in Cambridge. It's tempting to suppose
that this may have had something to do with his social or racial
(Jewish) background, but there is no clear evidence on that point.
Either way, it is fascinating to see how, when he decided to make a new
start in his career, he was prepared to work incredibly hard to make it
happen.

As I've also come to Cambridge a little later in life, it's something I can identify with. And of course it's been said
that a biographer must be able to identify with their subject to some
extent. Is this the beginning of a beautiful biographical
relationship? We'll see.

About Me

My name is Seb Falk. I'm a medieval historian and historian of science. I'm also a sailor, singer, marathon-runner and dog-lover.

My research centres on the sciences practised by monks and scholars in the later Middle Ages - and especially their scientific instruments. I am also very interested in the ways history is presented to the public (e.g. in museums) and taught in schools.

In 2016-17 I am one of the BBC's New Generation Thinkers, and will be explaining my research in several programmes on Radio 3.